Asian American Empowerment - "Chinese Subtleties": A Reponse

ModelMinority.com member Ravenastro responds to columnist Andrew Glass.

Chinese Subtleties

By Andrew Glass
"Congress and the World" Columnist
©2004 The Hill (Washington, D.C.)
June 1, 2004

In keeping with plans to leave his job at the World Bank and move to New York, my son Sam sold his Foggy Bottom studio apartment last week to a Chinese family.

To be sure, only one of its members will live there. Since she’s taking an advanced degree in California, she won’t be able to see her new quarters for several more months. Acting on her behalf, her extended family inspected the place several times — for several hours a pop.

By then, the price had been set — although earlier, it had taken more weeks to strike that bargain. At long last, all the issues were seemingly settled. All that remained was for the parties to sign a contract that already had been amended at the buyer’s urging many times. But that nominally routine exercise took three more hours.

Matters reached a head when Sam said these last-minute obstacles had made him “lose face.” He got up and began to walk out when the deal was finally struck.

On a micro level, Sam had been caught in cross-cultural crosshairs. On a macro level, some 7,000 miles from the U.S. East Coast, many other potential American buyers and sellers now undergo similar experiences — even as the Chinese economy races ahead at breakneck speed, snapping up raw materials and sending world commodity prices soaring.

In both the business world and the political realm, U.S. and Chinese decisionmaking processes differ. A typical American investment team consists of three people: a high-level principal, an associate well versed in the pending investment and an attorney. A typical Chinese team will have at least a dozen members.

Most often, the top American negotiator holds the authority to make decisions on the spot. The Chinese side, by contrast, almost always makes its decisions by consensus, which can take a lot longer. Hence, the need for platoons of relatives to inspect and reinspect the condo and to exchange views among each other before reaching a decision to offer to buy it.

“Americans pride themselves on dealing with issues ‘straight up’ and calling a spade a spade,” notes Thomas Barrack Jr., who chairs Colony Capital, a global real-estate investment fund with some $4.5 billion in assets.

“This can be a serious problem when done in a negotiating forum with the Chinese,” Barrack, who is well versed in the Asian business climate, adds. “[The] Chinese are loyal to a person and not necessarily to a company. They do not like to see their mentors beaten upon or subjected to a ‘loss of face.’ Consequently, back-channeling and subtleties are essential.”

Such subtleties often also play a key role in the public-policy arena — even as the Bush administration seeks to engage Chinese leaders on a host of big issues. They include the future of the Korean peninsula, the status of war-torn Iraq and, on the economic front, the disruptive deflationary impact of China’s huge cheap labor pool.

“As of now, China is the largest buyer of U.S. Treasuries,” a Bush official told me. “We need to pay attention to that.”

When Sam enters a graduate school of business in the fall, he will have a fair share of Chinese students as his classmates. His further career in either business or public life will, I strongly suspect, continue to bring him in close contact with Asians in general and the Chinese in particular.

The lessons he learned in selling his D.C. condo to a Chinese buyer won’t be lost in translation.

A Response

By Ravenastro
June 6, 2004

The article "Chinese subtleties" by Andrew Glass appeared in "The Hill," a free daily newspaper with a large distribution in Washington, D.C. It is widely read by influential people including lawmakers, Congressional staffers, lobbyists, etc. I find it disturbing from the title to the closing line.

1) The title "Chinese subtleties" conjures up images of the stereotype of the inscrutable, shifty Chinese. Glass continues this theme throughout his column. “Americans pride themselves on dealing with issues ‘straight up’ and calling a spade a spade,” notes Thomas Barrack Jr. Barrack contrasts the Americans' forthright business conduct with that of the Chinese: “This can be a serious problem when done in a negotiating forum with the Chinese,” Barrack, who is well versed in the Asian business climate, adds. “[The] Chinese are loyal to a person and not necessarily to a company. They do not like to see their mentors beaten upon or subjected to a ‘loss of face.’ Consequently, back-channeling and subtleties are essential.” Since when was conniving in business purely something that applied to business with Asia? Isn't Wall St. full of shady deals?

2) The author conflates Chinese with Chinese American. The buyer is living and studying in California, not China! Furthermore, if I was buying an apartment and I couldn't go look at it, I would want someone I trust (preferably family) to go and take a look at the place in my stead. That's not "subtle," that's just smart.

3) He broadly generalizes from an individual real estate exchange to a whole foreign policy approach (naturally he has nothing substantive to say about this.) In reality, he spends most of the column complaining about a single experience that his son had, and 2 brief paragraphs on how this broadly applies to relations with China.

Such subtleties often also play a key role in the public-policy arena — even as the Bush administration seeks to engage Chinese leaders on a host of big issues. They include the future of the Korean peninsula, the status of war-torn Iraq and, on the economic front, the disruptive deflationary impact of China’s huge cheap labor pool.

“As of now, China is the largest buyer of U.S. Treasuries,” a Bush official told me. “We need to pay attention to that.”

4) Toward the end, Glass continues to confuse Asian Americans and Chinese Americans with Asians and Chinese:

"When Sam enters a graduate school of business in the fall, he will have a fair share of Chinese students as his classmates. His further career in either business or public life will, I strongly suspect, continue to bring him in close contact with Asians in general and the Chinese in particular."

5) Glass' spectacular closing line sums up how little thought he's put into his column:

"The lessons he learned in selling his D.C. condo to a Chinese buyer won’t be lost in translation."

Still trying to generalize from one incident, Glass claims that this event will guide all of his son's future decision-making (apparently showing real business smarts.) Furthermore, he has to quote one of the least racially sensitive films of the year.

Let me not be subtle so you don't miss my point - that's RACIST!